In a World Where You Can't Die
by HikariMelody
Summary: A spell has been cast over all the lands by a god making it so the only way someone can die is by old age even if that person is decapitated or blown to bits; they will regenerate and continue to live out their life span. This world should be perfect, yet people are abusing this ability. They are making games out of dying and at the center of it all is Mario. AU, AH Mario Kart Wii
1. How It All Started

**This is a an AH, AU Mario Kart Wii fanfic. If you don't know what AH means, it means "all human" and AU means "alternative universe". I want to make that very clear because I edited a few characters to fit the storyline and the world they live in is my version of Mario's world (which has an extra dose of reality while still being fantastical along with a dark twist). I did research on all the characters, so I am fully aware of all the details of them, so if I didn't include something or changed it, it's because I wanted to or it fit the storyline better. (I've been flamed before when I didn't make this clear, so I want to make it as clear as humanly possible.) Now that I've made that clear, please enjoy this fanfic. I tried really hard on it and I think it turned out amazing.**

**By the way, even though I put the main character as Luigi and Baby Mario; Baby Peach, Mario, and Bowser Junior also play a good deal into the story. (In fact, the main characters are more like Luigi and Baby Peach, but there oddly isn't a Baby Peach option even though there are options for characters I have never even heard of.)**

**Disclaimer Mario Kart Wii and all its characters belong to Nintendo**

**Chapter 1**

**How It All Started**

_Tears ran down Mario's round cheeks in big blobs as he held his father's hand in a vice grip with both of his own hands. His father's other hand lay on his stomach, trying to stop the rapid bleeding in vain. Luigi held their already dead mother in his arms as he cried softly._

"_Now you take care of your brother, Mario, and you two remember that I love you both very much," their father wheezed._

_Robbers banged about their store, stealing their wares and money as Mario said, "Yes, Father."_

"_Come closer, son. I have to tell you something." Mario leaned in so their father could whisper something into his ear so the robbers wouldn't be able to overhear him. "There is a secret cabinet under my desk. I hid your brother's and your birthday present there. When the robbers leave, go there and get them. Happy Birthday, Mario." When Mario leaned away, their father looked over at Luigi and said, "And Happy Early Birthday to you, Luigi, since yours is next week."_

_Luigi began to cry harder into their mother's black locks. It was a few moments later when their father stopped talking and his silvery-blue eyes dimmed, announcing his death. Mario stroked their father's hair as he cried. Mario didn't get up until hours after the robbers had left. It took a lot of prying and convincing to get Luigi to leave their mother._

_Mario held his hand as they walked through the store to go to their father's office, which was normally forbidden. The store was oddly bare and the things that were there were scattered about and turned every which way. The same went for their father's office. Even his desk was turned sideways, but thankfully, the robbers hadn't noticed the latch that went to the cabinet in the floor._

_Mario opened it and inside were two boxes with their names on the lids. Mario could read enough to recognize his own name and his brother's. He handed his brother the box with his name on it while he opened the one labeled "To Mario". Inside was a red (his favorite color) hat with a giant "M" on the front. Luigi had the same thing in his box except his hat was green (Luigi's favorite color) with a giant "L" on the front._

"_These are beautifully made; as expected by our father, the best hatter in the kingdom," smiled Mario sadly as he inspected the hat before he put it on. It was a little too big, but he would grow into it. He looked over at his brother who had already put his hat on. "Come on, Luigi. Let's go."_

"_Where are we going?" he whispered._

"_I don't know yet."_

_Mario took Luigi's hand again and led him out of the hat store that had doubled as their house, ignoring the blood stains and their dead parents in the corner who had tried to stop the robbery from happening, but had failed. Mario was only four years old and Luigi just a year younger, but despite their age, they were on their own now._

_Bowser sat at a table chatting animatedly with his three brothers. One of them was wearing a miniature four-point crown made of silver that adorned jewels of onyx and amber. The brothers' conversation instantly halted when it suddenly fell off his head, clattering to the ground. They stared at the crown, barely breathing._

"_No," whispered the youngest, Koopa, who was seven, as he began to cry, fully knowing what that meant._

_The second youngest, Para, who was twelve, placed a hand on his shoulder as he held his tears in. The oldest, Dry, who was fourteen, picked up his crown as he told his younger brothers to follow him. They followed him to the Queen's bed chambers. They entered her room where a doctor sat with her frowning and a soldier stood beside him looking depressed. When they saw them, they shook their heads sadly._

_Bowser, who was thirteen, looked down at their mother, the Queen. Her skin had always been almost as white as snow, but when she had become sick, it had become impossibly whiter. Her long green curls were spread along her pillow and tangled around her crown that had fallen off. It looked just like Dry's except it was larger and had more points and jewels. They had known she was going to die soon, but it still hurt to see her go. She had been so kind and loving. First their father and now her._

_Dry walked over to their mother. He didn't even look at her as he took her crown and tossed his own over his shoulder at Bowser. Dry placed the Queen's crown on his head while Bowser placed Dry's on his. They both attached to their heads by the magic of the royal blood. Now that the Queen was dead, Dry was the owner of her crown. Bowser got Dry's crown because Dry was no longer the heir to the throne. Dry _was_ the ruler of the Koopa Kingdom now, while Bowser would get his spot if he died before he had children since Dry was the first born and Bowser the second._

_Bowser glared at Dry as he smirked and laughed about his new position. Bowser dreaded what he knew he had to do because his older brother wasn't very stable._

_Bowser, now at the age of fifteen, watched Dry, now sixteen, walk down the hall. When he saw it was vacant, he began to follow him down and slowly slip the knife that he had stashed into his sleeve into his hand, but Koopa caught his wrist._

"_Bowser, please. Dry is our brother. You can't kill him," he pleaded then turned to Para who was standing behind him. "You agree, don't you?"_

"_I don't know. I'm neutral. On one hand, he's our brother, but on the other, he's cruel," Para replied._

"_Para! You're not helping!" Koopa whined._

_Bowser placed the hand that wasn't hiding a knife in his sleeve on his youngest brother's shoulder as he said, "I'm sorry, Koopa, but some things that have to be done aren't pleasant. You'll understand when you're older."_

"_But I want to understand now."_

_Bowser looked at him sadly before kissing his forehead and said, "I have to go."_

_As Bowser walked away, Koopa hugged Para and cried into his shirt because he didn't want to lose another family member, but he had to. Bowser walked along the streets of the kingdom, trying to locate Dry. It didn't take him too long to find him and thankfully, he was away from the guards and even the citizens. Bowser took a deep breath and reminded himself why he was doing this; It was because Dry ruled the Koopa Kingdom cruelly and Bowser should be King._

_Bowser walked up slowly behind Dry and lifted the knife, bringing it down swiftly to get it over with. It was as if everything was happening in slow motion. As the blade descended, a boy who looked no older than ten dashed in between them while carrying food in his arms. Before Bowser could even register him, the blade stabbed him where his throat met his shoulder, killing him almost instantly. Bowser backed away from him, horrified, while Dry simply turned around and glanced at him indifferently before walking away._

"_Luigi!" screamed Mario, now at the age of eleven, as he dropped to his knees in front of his brother and pulled him into his arms._

_Four children in tattered clothes holding food in their arms formed a circle around him and cried. The oldest, who was fourteen, by the name of Wario, turned to Bowser and glowered at him._

"_How could you do this to him? That was the last of his family! He's the only one of us who has any family left!" he screamed._

"_I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," Bowser whispered brokenly._

"_What _were_ you trying to do? Kill someone else and miss?" accused another one of the four children that had formed around the two brothers, Yoshi, angerly._

_Bowser didn't know how to answer that because it wouldn't ease the pain of their loss. Even the kingdom guards that had been chasing them, since it seemed they had stolen some food, had stopped and were checking on Luigi to see if he was still alive, which he wasn't._

"_Why is everyone always dying? What's the point?" cried Mario loudly._

_That's when a man who was beyond gorgeous who sat on a small cloud wearing a billowing white cloak with long glossy black hair that flowed around his head appeared before them. His eyes that were like pitch black pits of nothing had a subtle curve to them and his skin had a perfect light tan tone to it._

"_My thoughts exactly. I am tired of seeing all these pointless deaths, too. You humans kill each other for war, for the throne, for money, for possessions, for hate, for love, and many other reasons. You die so easily. Whether it's from being stabbed or disease. I am tired of watching it and I refuse to. From here on out, you are incapable of dying early. The only way you can die is from old age and only old age even if you are decapitated or blown to bits, you will regenerate and continue on living. In other words, you are invincible," announced the immortal god, Lakitu, as he cast the spell to make it so._

"_If you can do all that, can you bring my brother back?" asked Mario through his tears as he held Luigi tightly in his arms, smearing blood all over himself._

"_I suppose, but be warned. Bringing someone back from the dead tends to bring bad luck to whoever wished for it. For the universe tries to balance itself. Maybe not now, but one day. The spell I just cast isn't the same because the spirit won't even leave their body when your brother's already has for he is dead."_

"_I don't care. I just want my brother."_

"_Very well."_

_With a simple flick of Latiku's hand, Luigi's stab wound instantly healed and his eyes began to blink slowly._

"_Luigi! You're alive!" squealed Mario in relief as he hugged him tighter._

_Bowser gaped at Lakitu and Luigi, the words starting to settle in. They can't die. That means it was too late to kill Dry and the Koopa Kingdom was stuck with him as their King._

_After Latiku's intervening, wars became a thing of the past. There was no point to them because no one ever died. The five kingdoms were forced to make peace with each other. There began to be more population because no one was dying of disease or being killed by war, crime, accidents, or other things. People still got sick, but they no longer could die from it. It didn't take long for people to discover if you died with a sickness, you came back to life perfectly healthy. It became the new treatment for getting rid of them because it was the most effective way._

_People began to become more friendly with each other because there was no fear of death in their lives anymore. Strangers were no longer much of a danger. Crime became more tricky because who was killed didn't stay dead. It only took a mere few minutes for someone to come back alive. That's not to say everything was perfect. People just had to find loopholes. Like Dry who tortured and imprisoned instead of killed._

"_Mario!" screamed Luigi, now fifteen, in horror as he watched a man stab Mario in the stomach and steal the food he had been carrying._

_Mario, now sixteen, fell to the ground as he clutched at the wound. He was losing a lot of blood and it reminded him vaguely of the way their father had died. Luigi raced over to Mario, not even caring about the thief who ran off with their meal._

"_Don't die, brother. Please don't die," Luigi cried._

"_I don't see why you're making a big deal out of this. It would be better if he died. Then he could be reborn into a healthy body instead of walking around with a healing wound," said the only girl in their group, Birdo, who was seventeen, as she calmly walked up to Mario._

"_But, Mario has never died before."_

"_I have. Twice. It's not so bad." She went onto her knees and looked into his dying silvery-blue eyes. "You're in pain, aren't you? Here, lemme help you," she said as she pulled a knife out of her pocket and stabbed him._

_Luigi's eyes widened before he pushed her to the ground to stop her from stabbing Mario again. "What the hell are you doing?" he shrieked._

"_Helping him die so he can be healthy again."_

"_You're insane!" he shouted._

"_Am I the one that's insane? Or is it you?"_

_Luigi quickly let go of her and rushed over to Mario when he heard him collapse. Birdo got up and checked his pulse._

"_Good. He's dead. Now he can come back to life."_

"_What the hell is your problem?" Luigi screamed at her._

"My_ problem? What's _yours_? Because of you, he was in pain so much longer. He could have been healthy by now. Dying and coming back to life is completely normal, Luigi," she yelled back._

"_No it isn't. It's only been like this for five years!"_

"_Well it is now and you better adapt."_

_Luigi didn't think he would ever adapt to such a lifestyle even though he was one of the people that had started it in the first place. He looked away from her just in time to see Mario open his eyes and begin to sit up._

"_Mario! You're okay?" asked Luigi worriedly._

_Mario looked at his palm and watched himself open and close his hand a few times before he looked at Luigi and smiled a stomach churning grin._

"_I was dead, but now I'm alive and that is utterly amazing," he breathed, exhilarated._

_That was how it had started. After that, Mario became fascinated and obsessed with being reborn. He began to kill himself for the fun of it. He would jump off buildings several stories up to feel the wind in his hair. He would slit his wrists to see if any marks remained when he came to. He would drown himself by trying to swim to the bottom. Yoshi, Birdo, Wario, and Waluigi weren't all that worried about him. Dying and being reborn was normal and they saw no risk behind it for no one was yet to die and not come back, so to them, it had to be impossible. But for Luigi, that behavior frightened him immensely and Mario wouldn't listen to him._

"_I want to make a game out of dying, but it won't be the objective. It would be something that could happen during the course of the game and could slow you down if it does. And I want this game to become big and popular. So popular that it spans out to other kingdoms. Not just the Koopa Kingdom," explained Mario one day to Luigi while they sat on a building that was ten stories up. It was a building Mario frequented to jump off of._

"_Good luck with ever thinking up such a game. We are barely at peace with the other kingdoms as it is. Let alone able to play a game with them. Besides, I've told you before, you shouldn't make a sport out of dying," replied Luigi._

"_I'll have to really think about that one. I haven't figured out the details of it yet. I'll get back to you on it." Once again, he had ignored Luigi's worries and kept going on with his thoughts._

_It wasn't until a week later that he did get back to him._

"_Luigi! I got it! I got it! The dying game! I'm going to make these insane tracks that you could possibly die on and people are going to race on them! I call it Mario Kart because I thought of it!" Mario shrilled with happiness to his brother with a proud smile._

**And there's the end of the first chapter. It was all background. The next chapter is going to have the storyline. This chapter was just showing how horrible their world was before Lakitu intervened and made it impossible for them to be able to kill each other anymore. But as you can see, they are taking advantage of the fact that they can't die. As for making Lakitu an immortal god, you have to see it isn't too far from the truth. He sits on a cloud and in Mario Kart, he's always dragging you out of the places you fell. He's practically bringing you back to life! :O**

**P.S. I was originally planning on making this a short story, but then I finished the introduction and it was six pages long and I realized it was just going to be too long for a short story, so I should split it into chapters.**

**P.S.S. If you couldn't figure it out, I shortened a few names. Dry is Dry Bowser, Para is Paratroopa, and Koopa is Koopa Troopa.**

**P.S.S. I'm really sorry about not updating City of Hellish Fire for the longest time. I've sorta lost inspiration for it. But don't worry. I refuse to abandon it forever. It will be updated one day. Probably in a month or two. Thing is, I have a job now and school along with other works to do, so it's going to take awhile.**

**~Camille Cayden**


	2. The New Generation

**Thank you to the one person that reviewed my fanfic. It meant a lot to me. :) I hope next time you log in so I can reply to you and you can follow it and stuff. :D**

**P.S. All the characters in Mario Kart Wii are going to appear sometime in this story. Since there are a few baby characters in it, I decided to make them a different character instead of being the baby form of other characters. Because they are a different character, they have a different name. I also edited a few of their appearances to fit the storyline better.**

**Disclaimer Mario Kart Wii and all its characters belong to Nintendo**

**Chapter 2**

**The Next Generation**

The wind rushed through Berry's blond hair as she sped up on her motorcycle. She did a trick in the air as she went off a ramp then made a tight turn to pass the finish line.

"That was amazing, my angel," congratulated Mario as he rushed up to her and plucked her off her motorcycle to spin her around in his arms.

"Thanks, daddy. With how well I did, I'm sure to win the Ultimate Mario Cup," she squealed.

"Well, this was only a trial run, so when you are actually on the track, it will be much harder. Remember to avoid objects on the ground, okay?"

She grinned widely as she declared, "Except mushrooms and stars."

"Even those can cause problems for you sometimes."

"I can handle it," she said as she waved off his worries.

"For a seven year old, you are quite the prodigy."

Berry's grin widened as he put her down. That's when they heard a crash. They ran over to the side of the road where it turned tightly to find Martin's kart banged up and him lying beside it as he rubbed his head.

"I'm okay, daddy," assured Martin as he smiled up at Mario.

Mario frowned at him as he shook his head. He walked over to his son to pull him to his feet.

"Martin, maybe you shouldn't compete in the Cup. You'll get hurt doing it," he sighed.

"But Berry is. I'll be fine," he argued.

"But Berry is two years older than you. She is more experienced. You're probably going to be the youngest contestant by far."

Martin crossed his arms as he said, "I don't care. I've been training for a Mario Kart Cup since I was capable of walking and I'm finally old enough to compete. I'm going."

"Don't worry, daddy. I'll look out for him and I'm sure once he's out on the track, the racing will just come to him. After all, we are your kids and you're the greatest Mario Kart racer ever," assured Berry with a big smile.

"That is true. Very well. You can both compete in the Ultimate Mario Cup, but don't slow Berry down, Martin. You both better give it your all."

Berry and Martin cheered as they jumped up and down together.

***BREAK*BREAK*BREAK***

"Ready, Luigi?" asked Mario as he leaned against a doorpost.

"Yep," replied Luigi as he closed his suitcase.

"Excellent. Do you want a servant to carry your suitcase?"

"No. I'm fine carrying it myself."

Mario shrugged his shoulders as he said, "Suit yourself."

They left the room to walk through the halls. Every time someone saw Mario, they bowed and greeted him respectively as he passed.

"Don't you ever get tired of that?" inquired Luigi after a couple dozen people had greeted Mario.

"Not really. I barely notice it now. Besides, I don't mind them knowing how amazing I am."

Luigi rolled his eyes. His brother was being egotistical, as per the usual. Mario named almost everything after himself. He named his kart racing, at least a dozen tracks, and even his son all after himself. Martin would have been named "Mario Junior" if it wasn't for the fact Peach came up with the name "Martin", which was a form of the name "Mario".

They walked into the throne room where Queen Peach was sitting on her throne with Berry perched on her lap. They looked a lot alike. They had the same blond hair and hazel-blue eyes. Only Berry's blond hair only came to her ears while Peach's ran all the way down her back. They both wore a gold crown adorning jewels of rubies and sapphires, but Berry's was less grand and smaller for it was the Crown of the Heir while Peach's was the Crown of the Ruling. They even wore matching pink gowns.

Martin sat in front of them wearing a white blouse, blue leggings, a red vest, and brown boots. He was the spitting image of Mario except he had his mother's eyes. He even wore Mario's old hat that had been given to him by Mario. He had given it to him since he no longer wore it because he now wore the Crown of the Spouse and he felt that since Berry was going to become the next Queen of the Mushroom Kingdom, then Martin should become the next Mario.

"Well, we're off," announced King Mario.

"Daddy, we'll miss you," his children declared as they ran up to him to give their father a hug.

"Let me come with you," begged Princess Berry.

"Me too!" whined Prince Martin.

He hugged and gave each of them a kiss on the cheek. "No. It's just for me and your uncle to do. You can't go, too." They pouted as he went to his wife and kissed her, too. "I'll return soon, my Queen."

"As you always do, my King," she assured him.

He waved them goodbye as he left with his brother, not noticing the frown on his face that had formed as he saw how he had everything and him, nothing. He wished he had what his brother had; a loving wife and beautiful, healthy children. It didn't seem like too much to ask for, but he could never seem to find the one for him while Mario easily found her.

Everything came easy to Mario and he obviously took them for granted. No matter where Mario went, he created a giant shadow behind him. No one ever noticed the brother of him. The only reason his family could break from his shadow was because they were of royal blood, so they had to be noticed. Luigi had no such thing.

They had been born to poor hatters who were killed early on in their lives, causing them to live on the streets with four other orphans by the names of Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, and Birdo. The only reason Mario had become king was because a princess had noticed him, which it's hard not to notice Mario. Luigi thought he had met his one and only once, but she vanished into thin air after seeing her just once in his life. But that one time had been everything to Luigi.

"Looking at the potential tracks is one of my favorite parts," smiled Mario with satisfaction.

"Is Yoshi or Toad joining us this time?" Luigi requested.

"No. Yoshi is too busy planning a wedding with Birdo and Toad wants to be surprised this year, so he's not looking at any tracks."

"Didn't they both make one for the Cup?"

"Toad did. Yoshi just fixed up one from last year's Cup. For this Cup, I want some fixed up tracks as well as new ones to make it a mix of old and new."

"Fixed up tracks? You've never done that before. It's an interesting idea. Did you fix up any?"

"Yeah. I fixed up all my Mario Circuits and my Mario Raceway for the Cup as well as made a new Mario Circuit."

"How original," Luigi commented sarcastically.

Mario rolled his eyes as he said, "You're the one that calls all of their tracks Luigi's Circuit after knocking the name off of me."

"Correction. You name them. I don't care what they are called."

"Whatever."

They exited the castle and went into the royal limousine that was waiting for them out front. As soon as they were seated comfortably in the car, the driver began to drive down the road.

"Where to first?" Luigi asked.

"I want to show you something before we officially start looking at tracks," Mario smiled secretively.

Luigi simply raised an eyebrow at his brother.

***BREAK*BREAK*BREAK***

"Cows? You wanted to show me _cows_?" Luigi inquired with a raised eyebrow.

In fact, there were at least a dozen cows roaming around freely everywhere on a dirt track.

"I call it Mario Meadows. Do you like it? It's a present to Berry for entering her first Mario Kart Cup," announced Mario proudly.

"Does she like cows?"

"Cows are her favorite animal, so I had it specially made for her."

"Then she'll love it, but I think you should change its name."

It was Mario's turn to raise an eyebrow as he asked, "To what?"

"How about Moo Moo Meadows?" Luigi said as he tilted his head to the side.

"And you think that is better than Mario Meadows?"

"Yes. And 'moo' also starts with 'M', too."

"Fine. Have it your way," he replied as he threw his arms up before starting to make his way back to the car.

"Isn't Martin entering this year, too? Did you make a track for him, too?"

"Yeah. I fixed up Sherbet Land for him."

"How come Martin gets a fixed up track while Berry gets a brand new one?"

"Because Martin likes penguins and I already had a penguin track, so I didn't see a point in making a new one when I already had one."

***BREAK*BREAK*BREAK***

The sun was beginning to set when they made it to the last track they were going to put into consideration. They had been gone from their family for an entire month. The Sarasaland Kingdom was the farthest possible place from The Mushroom Kingdom. They seldom traveled there because of its distance. Really the only time they went there was for the tracks. Once to look at them and another to actually compete on them. There was usually quite a few there since the Queen of Sarasaland was friends with Queen Peach.

"This is the last one. What do you think of it, Luigi?" requested Mario.

Luigi glanced around the track. It had an elegantly paved road that looped around statues. One statues was of two children, one boy and one girl, about the same age as Berry, dancing with each other. The other statue was of a woman wearing the Crown of the Ruling and the same children were holding each of her hands. That was when he noticed the boy in the statues was wearing the Crown of the Heir. They must be her children. There was something about the woman that seemed extremely familiar to him.

"This track is beautiful. Has this person made a track for us before?" Luigi requested.

"Yeah. The Queen made a track for us in the Cup four years ago, too. It was a dazzling cruise ship. Why?" responded Mario.

"She looks familiar. That's all. Has she competed before?"

"Nah. She's never competed. You probably met her once or twice through Peach since they're friends. In fact, I believe she was at our wedding. The maid-of-honor, now that I think about it."

Luigi's eyes widened as recognition hit him. She couldn't be the same girl he met that day that was engraved into his mind, could she? A strong gust of wind whipped around them at that moment, knocking Luigi's hat right off his head. Mario's crown didn't budge since a royal crown only came off in death or by that person's own will.

"Ah! My hat!" shrieked Luigi as he ran after it.

"Why do you still even wear that ragged old thing?" requested Mario as he watched him with a raised eyebrow.

Luigi's hat landed in front of a little girl. She had ruffled dark red hair to her shoulders that curled at the ends and was wearing green overalls. She looked only to be about six or seven. She leaned down and picked up his hat. She handed it to him while looking at him with her big silvery-blue eyes, the same color as his eyes.

"That's such a pretty hat. You must really love it," she grinned with missing teeth.

"Yeah. I do," Luigi replied breathlessly while staring back at her in awe.

"Hey, little girl. Are you competing in the Ultimate Mario Cup this year?" requested Mario as he jaunted up to them.

"No. I want to, but my mom won't let me," she pouted and shook her head.

"Not this again, Lily," sighed a woman.

Luigi and Mario turned around to see the woman from the statue walking up to them. She had the same dark red hair as the little girl, Lily, and a yellow gown. Just like the stature, she wore the Crown of the Ruling, except instead of being made of stone, her crown was made of gold with jewels of topaz and pietersite.

A little boy with neat brown hair and the same dark blue eyes as her was holding her hand. He wore the Sarasaland Crown of the Heir, along with a blue blouse, a yellow vest, orange leggings, and expensive looking blue shoes. That was when Luigi realized the little boy and girl were both from the statues, too. He should have known the girl was royalty even though she wasn't dressed like it since she wore topaz and pietersite earrings in each ear, the royalty symbol jewels of Sarasaland.

"Queen Daisy, a pleasure to see you again. I haven't seen you in awhile. Are you going to compete this year?" requested Mario.

Daisy laughed as she said, "Do you ask that to everything that breathes? I'm not going to compete."

"Why not? This is the second year you sponsor a track for us, but refuse to enter yourself."

"It's just not my thing. Besides, if I went, who would look after my children?"

"We could come with you and compete, too," begged Lily as she rushed up to her mother and tugged on her dress.

"Racing isn't really my thing either, but I wouldn't mind it," said the little boy.

Daisy laughed again as she said, "It looks like everyone is against me. I will think about it."

"Yes," Lily cheered before dragging her smiling brother down the street after her.

"Looks like my work here is done. Come on, Luigi," said Mario as he walked away with a grin on his own face.

Luigi hesitated as he looked at Daisy and then glanced at her children that were giggling and playing down the track.

"Your children are beautiful," he complimented.

"Thank you. Their names are Louis and Lily. They are both seven years old. They're twins."

He glanced at them again. "If you don't mind me asking this, where's their dad? I noticed you didn't make any statues of him. I'm sorry if this question upsets you. I really shouldn't be asking it at all."

She looked sad for a moment before she replied, "Louis and Lily never met their dad."

"Is he dead?"

"No. They've just never met him. They're father doesn't even know they exist. I've never been sure how to tell him about them. I don't think he will hate them. I just don't know how to say it and I feel like it's too late to tell him."

"It's never too late to tell him," responded Luigi compassionately.

She smiled sadly. "Perhaps. Did you know I named Louis after his dad? The father isn't named Louis, though. Louis is a form of his name."

"Really? Louis is a form of my name."

Daisy's expression turned blank as she said, "I know" before she turned and ran off to her children, telling them it was getting late and they better be getting home.

**Just so you know, Berry is Baby Peach, Martin is Baby Mario, Lily is Baby Daisy, and Louis is Baby Luigi. As you can see, I edited a few of their appearances to fit the storyline better. I believe there is only one other character I edited the appearance of. (Besides the whole creature to human thing) I hope you are enjoying this so far. :)**

**P.S. I'm ignoring the fact that the DS version of Mario Kart was the first to put old tracks in a new game and also I'm ignoring the existence of Moo Moo Farm along with the fact Daisy was in Mario Kart: Double Dash. Shhhhh. Lol (Remember I did say that I was editing a few things to fit the storyline better, right?)**

**~Camille Cayden**


	3. The Beginning of Something

**First, thank you so freaking much to all the people who reviewed and followed this. It makes me so freaking happy! :D Second, I'm so sorry this took so long. I didn't mean for it to. I was going to post this much sooner, but I ran into writer's block and some serious inspiration loss.**

**Also, remember that I'm putting my own spin into things, so characters may appear slightly different than how they are supposed to appear. I do that because I'm writing them how I see them instead of how the game tries to pretty them up and display them. Like how Mario is suppose to be modest and kind, yet he always seems to be the hero and barely ever Luigi and everything is always named after Mario. It gives me a sense of ego and love for the spotlight, as for Luigi, he seems a bit wary. Not necessarily a scaredy-cat, but wary of danger, but will still go into it if necessary, especially to help someone he cares about. And since I'm putting my own spin into it, things might not match up to the series. I just did that for the storyline. Wow this was a long note. XD**

**Disclaimer I do not own Mario or any of its characters.**

**Chapter 3**

**The Beginning of Something**

"_I wasn't sure before, but I am now. You are completely, utterly, irreversibly insane, Mario."_

"_Am not."_

"_Are, too."_

_Mario narrowed his eyes at his brother as he continued to trudge through the mud._

"_Why can't we just ask our King? Why do we have to ask the neighboring King?" sighed Luigi._

"_I told you before, Luigi. Because our King's brother killed you and murdering tends to make me not very fond of people, so we'll just ask a different one. I mean, there are four other kingdoms we could go to instead. We don't have to stick to our own."_

"_That was an accident, though. And I came back anyways," he pouted in vain._

_They had been walking for hours while carrying heavy backpacks and his feet were starting to hurt. The Mushroom Kingdom was so far away and they had never been there before. In fact, they had never left their kingdom and he was a bit worried how it would go, but Mario refused to let it go and he wasn't about to let him go alone. Even though their father had told Mario to look after him, most of the time, it felt more like Luigi was doing more of the looking after part._

_When they finally reached the Mushroom Kingdom, their jaws dropped at the sight they saw. It was nothing like the Koopa Kingdom where most of it was stricken with poverty. It was rather clean with stone streets and colorful houses. There were people running among each other and being friendly instead of causing pain and killing for morsels of food. They began to walk slowly through the village with their faces agape. They probably looked ridiculous, but they couldn't help it. It wasn't hard to find the castle, seeing how it was like a beacon. There were guards everywhere, looking stern and certainly like they weren't going to let them inside._

"_So how do you suppose we get inside?" inquired Luigi._

"_You could distract them while I sneak in," replied Mario._

"_I don't think hamsters are guarding the castle, Mario. They'll notice."_

"_Fine. Maybe there's an unguarded window around here."_

"_Sure. Then we could have tea with the King and marry his daughters," Luigi muttered, earning him a glare from Mario._

"_Come on. It's worth a try since we came all the way out here."_

_Luigi sighed as he followed Mario. They sneaked around hedges and pillars. There were many guards and not that many low hanging windows. Eventually they did find one, though, and sneaked over to slip into it. They weren't exactly quiet about it either. They plunked onto the ground loudly and groaned in pain. The floor was farther down than they were expecting._

"_Okay. We're in. Now to find the King," grinned Mario as he jaunted down the hallway, tracking mud._

_Luigi rolled his eyes before running after his brother. They weren't sure where the King was, but they took a wild guess, and went with the main, more grander hallways. They ran into a few guards and servants, but they only gave them an odd look before turning away. Security really lacked; probably because they didn't have to worry about anyone coming to assassinate the King or any of the other members of the royal family. When they saw huge, elegant doors, they were sure they had found the throne room. Oddly there were no guards guarding it. Lunch break?_

_They looked at each other with a determined expression before nodding and pushing open the doors with all their might. Inside, on his massive throne, sat the King of the Mushroom Kingdom with all his glory. He turned his attention to the two teenage boys who had just opened up the doors and narrowed his eyes._

"_And who are you? No one told me that someone was going to see me right now," said the King with authority._

"_I am Mario and I came all the way from Koopa Kingdom by foot because I wish to speak to you."_

_The King looked him up and down, taking in his muddy, torn, too big, and old, patched up clothes._

"_I have no desire to talk to a savage little boy."_

"Hey, I_-"_

_Mario was cut off by Luigi putting his hand over his mouth to shut him up, but he knew that wouldn't last for long since Mario tended to bite his hand until he would let go, even if he bled._

"_Oh, daddy. Why don't you listen to him? Maybe it's something interesting. I don't think anyone so cute could be as savage as you say they are," came a voice._

_They turned to see a girl who looked to be about their age step into the room from a side door. She had long, wavy blond hair and gorgeous hazel-blue eyes. She seemed to be the Princess since she was wearing an elegant pink gown and the Crown of the Heir._

"_Very well, Peach. I might as well hear them since they came from such a long distance to walk from. Go on."_

"_Well, King Toadstool, as you know, no one is capable of dying anymore and it's been this way for the past five years."_

_The King nodded, allowing Mario to continue._

"_I think we should make the most of this. Right now, we are living with fragile peace treaties with the other kingdoms due to war is pointless. I think we should use this time to strengthen our bonds so we don't have to always feel like we are walking on eggshells with each other."_

"_What do you suppose?" requested the King, intrigued._

"_The answer is very simple. A game that people from all the kingdoms compete in. And not just any game, but a game that takes advantage of the fact that we can't die. It will be a racing game where the competitors will make their own kart and race it on dangerous tracks that they could possibly die on, which could slow them down, but seeing how we are immortal, we will just get reborn and continue the race. There will be many tracks and, of course, the winner overall will get a trophy and a prize. Only thing is, I need a sponsor to make it happen."_

_The King seemed to be thinking it over and after a few minutes, he said, "Why didn't you ask your own King to sponsor you?"_

"_We are not very fond of our King's brother. We have a bit of history with him."_

"_Which one? He has three brothers. Though, you are probably referring to Bowser. I don't see why you wouldn't like Para or Koopa," piped up the Princess as she walked over to stand beside her father._

_Mario just nodded in reply to her question._

"_What do you think, Peach? Do you think I should sponsor them?" he inquired to his daughter._

"_I think it sounds fun," she giggled._

"_Then it's settled. I will sponsor you two."_

_Mario grinned widely, but his eyes were trained on the Princess while she smiled gently back at him. Luigi stood there in disbelief, both at the fact that they got a sponsor and at the fact that his joke might actually come true with the way she was looking at him._

***BREAK*BREAK*BREAK***

"Rosalina! It's been so long since I've last seen you!" shrilled Peach as she ran up to her.

"I know. It's been so long since I last participated in a Mario Kart tournament," she laughed.

"I heard you sponsored one more track than you usually do."

"I was just so excited about participating this year that I couldn't help it. I heard your two kids are participating this year, too."

"Indeed they are. You better watch out for them. They take after Mario."

"Well, you see, we all actually have been expecting Martin to take after Mario what with his name and the fact he looks just like him. I'm going to be on the look out for him. Why else would a five year old be competing?"

Peach gave a nervous laugh, but refused to doubt her own son's abilities. He was still very young. He could get better.

***BREAK*BREAK*BREAK***

"Hi. I'm Berry. This is my first year competing in a Mario Kart tournament and this is my brother, Martin. It's his first year, too," greeted Berry with a friendly smile with her brother into a group of competitor children all about her age.

"Ha! Newbs? This is my second year competing! We're going to smoke you!" laughed a boy with bone white hair who had to be a prince from one of the five kingdoms since he wore a silver crown on top of his head with onyx and amber jewels.

"Ignore, Bones. This is my third year. Nice to meet you. I'm Diddy. It's Junior's first year, too," grinned a boy with brown hair and tanned skin who looked a few years older than them.

"Who cares about Junior?" inquired Bones.

"You should, seeing how he's your cousin."

"Who cares about the cousin of the heir? He's never going to become King."

"Again. Ignore, Bones," sighed Diddy.

"Hi, I'm Junior," said a boy with short red hair in a ponytail that looked to be around Martin's age with his hand stuck out in front of him and a light blush on his cheeks.

"Nice to meet you all," smiled Berry as she shook his hand roughly.

"Yeah," muttered Martin as he looked as his shoes.

"Is this all the kids our age that are competing?" requested Berry.

"No. There are two more, but they are hiding behind their mom. I've never seen them before, so this must be their first year competing," answered Diddy while pointing at Berry and Martin's mother and two other queens who were talking together in a group. At closer inspection, she saw a little boy and girl hiding behind one of their gowns.

"Come on, Martin. Let's go meet them," she giggled before pulling her brother along with her.

When they got closer to the women, her mother stopped mid-sentence to look down at them and smiled.

"Rosalina, Daisy, you remember my children, Berry and Martin," said Peach.

"Oh yes. I expect to watch out for them on the track. Especially the one wearing Mario's old hat. I can almost feel how dangerously talented he is just by looking at him," replied Rosalina.

Martin smiled at her for the compliment, but he couldn't tell if she was joking or not.

"Hi, I'm Berry," she declared to the children hiding behind Daisy's gown, making them jump and peek around it.

"You have a hat like that mister," whispered the girl while staring at Martin.

"You like my hat?" inquired Martin while touching it.

"I think she's talking about Uncle Luigi. He's the only other person who has a hat like that," said Berry.

The girl stepped out from behind the woman's dress and walked up to Berry.

"I'm Lily," she said quietly.

Berry smiled at her and saw the boy step out to stand beside her.

"And I'm Louis."

"I wish you the best of luck on the tracks," said Berry.

"You, too," said the twins in unison as they held each other's hands.

From far away, Berry was unknowingly being watched by both Diddy and Junior.

**The racing will actually start in the next chapter. I had to work up to it. Almost every chapter will start with a memory from the past and then show what's happening in the present. As you can see, the characters have pretty much been established. I hope it's interesting enough. As I wrote this, I felt the second half wasn't very interesting since it was just them standing around the first track before the race started, talking to each other and introducing themselves to the newcomers. I hope this was worth the wait.**

**~Camille Cayden**


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